Thankful #2

I'm thankful for family traditions. I enjoy the time at home that the holidays provide. I love spending quality time with Mom, Dad and Angela. We chat and laugh while we cook. We share heartaches while we sit comfortably in the living room. We share life while we shop. We simply have time with each other and I love it!

I love our traditions of shopping the day after the holiday. The day after Thanksgiving, all the ladies head out to the stores. We pile into Vicki's van with my cousins and aunt as we go shopping. Since we're all together, and we are primarily Christmas shopping, we have to be pretty secretive. It's hilarious how one person keeps another person occupied in conversation or trying on items or looking in a certain area, while another person quickly moves to the register to check out and get that item in a bag! :) For the most part, no one figures out they're being manipulated!

We go to Mardels and several of us will buy the Christmas shirt of the season. Then we'll change in the car so we're appropriately decked out for the upcoming holiday. We laugh and hum carols as they're played over the loudspeaker of whatever store we're in at the time. Vicki and I will want a Sonic drink, but Aunt Barbara will think we can go to 'just one more store.' Typically we win though, because Vicki's the driver... :) It's a high energy day and so fun!

We end the day out with Del Rancho. It's a restaurant that we don't have in Texas and they have phenomenal chicken fried steak sandwiches. One sandwich feeds two people easily! The out of towners always want it when we're in OkCity. And the locals usually do make your own pizza.

After dinner, some cousins will head home or to their in-laws so the kids can see both families. Numbers in a small space will decrease and the games get pulled out. Some will play Wii, others will play DDR, while others will be deep in a Spades game. I vacillate between Spades and Scrabble. We're hard core, but only Rhonda likes Scrabble so I never get to play except when we're together. Spades has been a family game for years. I first learned when I had the flu on a family ski trip and it's been a favorite ever since.

I love family traditions!